After a harrowing week of torrential rain and midterm exams, a good laugh is exactly what the doctor ordered for gloomy Tufts students. The Institute, Tufts' live and filmed sketch comedy group, is ready with that antidote.
Tonight marks the premiere of The Institute's fourth season, entitled "Taking Risibility to New Heights." The performance will consist of three live sketches, three filmed sketches and a "Tufts Today" news segment. Executive producer Brian Agler, a senior, asserts that the show will be a "veritable hootenanny." What more could a weary student wish for?
The Institute has undergone some big changes since its last gut−busting performance. This is the group's first year without its founder, and the troupe boasts no fewer than six new members — two writers and four cast members.
"Our cast and writing staff last year was very senior−heavy," Agler said, "so this is kind of a rebirth."
Despite this extreme cast makeover, Agler promises that tonight's show will not stray too far from the beaten path The Institute has so successfully traversed in the past. Agler concedes that they will be relying on PowerPoint more than they used to, as well as presenting a lengthy and atypically formatted video sketch, which he describes as an "experiment." Yet Agler vows to the group's loyal fan base that "it's just going to be the same old Institute."
Though this may be the "same old" Institute, the performance promises to be anything but ho−hum. One of tonight's sketches is "Zombie Congress," a cheesy sitcom about what happens to Congress after a zombie apocalypse.
Other sketch titles include "Sasquatch Roommate" and "The Man Who Can't Relax."
Fresh material and fresh faces considered, it's looking like a hilarious night in the Sophia Gordon Multipurpose Room. The show starts at 11:15 p.m. Admission is free, but The Institute assumes no legal responsibility for audience members who leave in stitches from side−splitting laughter.Attend at your own risk.
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